"Davey! Hey, Dave!" Albert cupped his hands around his mouth as he spotted the familiar pair of brother and brother selling papes on the sidewalk. The plain, short-haired face of Davey Jacobs turned to him and his small group of Race, Elmer and Crutchie, who were walking up as well. Crutchie quickly stopped at the last moment, playing up his leg in order to make a sell to a respectable gentleman in green that stood by him.

Les Jacobs ran up to the threesome, an excited grin on his face. "Jack told me he was movin' in with Katharine today!"

"What?" Race frowned around his cigar. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Les, you know what Jack told us about keepin' it a secret!" Davey hurried up, admonishing the younger boy. He gave an apologetic look to Albert, Race and Elmer. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Elmer shrugged. "We was probably goin' to find out anyways."

"Jack knows he can't hide anythin' from us newsies," Albert added, and turned as Crutchie came limping up to the group. "Sold my last pape!" he said gladly, and held up a shiny nickel. He grinned mischievously. "An' I gotta nickel."

"That's great!" Race said enthusiastically, slinging his arm around Crutchie's shoulders. "That gimp leg sure is a goldmine, ain't it?"

"Aw, I think it's jus' my good looks," Crutchie laughed. "Dave, you comin' with us?"

"Comin' where?" Davey asked.

"Docks," Albert responded. "Last real sunny day of the year and all. Figured we'd take a dip."

"In November?" Davey shook his head in exasperation. "I sold all my papes anyways. I'll come."

"Albert!" Les suddenly was next to his side, panting a bit. He pointed down the street. "Those kids looking for you?"

"What kids?" Elmer asked, and they all turned, craning their necks to see who it was. Crutchie's face fell first. "It's Peter an' Mace, we gotta go!"

Race swore, and grabbed Crutchie's shirt sleeve to push him in front of the group, who soon took off like a copper was at their heels. A copper would pay no attention to this little event, however; they had no business in street children's affairs. Peter and Mace flung themselves down the road, kicking up dirt and pebbles as they chased after the newsies. Their feet pounded the dusty road as they frantically pushed aside New Yorkers in their frantic chase to catch their prey. "Ya can't hide from us forever!" Mace shouted to them, and Peter grabbed his arm. "Wait," he panted, out of breath. "Slow down. We'll get 'im when he's alone."

"Ya sure?" Mace asked.

"Course I'm sure!" Peter snapped. "We-we gotta do what Uncle says, so why not do it right?!"

"Okay," Mace muttered, taken aback by this sudden change in his brother. He started walking again, noticing through his beady little eyes that they had lost the newsies. But they were most definitely heading to the docks.

"Think we lost 'em?" Davey panted, chancing a look over his shoulder. He slowed to a stop, seeing no one except the general population of the city going about their business. No bullies, Peter or Mace or otherwise, were in sight.

"Why were they looking for you?" Les asked, running up to Albert, who shrugged. "They was lookin' fer Jack earlier," he answered. "But I dunno why they'd be after us."

"Whoooh!" they turned to see Race running by them with his shirt off, taking a giant jump into the water from off the docks.

"Aw, I can do better than that!" Albert whooped, and jumped into the ocean. With his legs tucked underneath him into a tight ball, he made a far larger splash than Race. Les glanced at Davey for permission, and started running.

"Just don't get your clothes wet-" Davey tried to say, but scrunched up his face as he was doused with salty seawater. He wiped his mouth with a hand, turning to the other boys. "Blegh!"

Crutchie chuckled, and Elmer went past Dave, taking a flying leap into the water himself. Now both Davey and Crutchie were soaked this time, but Davey was the only one not laughing. Elmer surfaced, blowing a stream of water from his mouth. "Come on, Davey!" he and the others called. "It'll be fun!"

"The water feels really nice!" Les added.

"I know, you guys already splashed me!" Davey joked, taking a seat next to Crutchie.

"Does this...get to you?"

"What?" Crutchie gave him a funny look. "The water? Dave, they'se only havin' fun!"

"No, no, that's not what I meant," Davey quickly corrected him. "Not swimming, I mean. With your leg and all."

"Oh." Crutchie shrugged. "Maybe someday, huh?"

"You really think so?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Crutchie grinned, and gave him a slight push. "Now go on in. I know ya want to."

"But-"

"Don't feel like ya need to keep me company! I can see all o' you jus' fine."

Davey stood up reluctantly, unbuttoning his vest and shirt. "You're more perceptive than I thought."

Crutchie gave him a blank look. "What?"

Davey sighed. "Never mind." He leapt into the water, surprisingly making a bigger splash than any of the boys before. Crutchie laughed as all the boys started splashing each other, each trying to outdo each other. He slouched down slightly, kicking up water with his good leg. "How about that!" he hollered, grinning. Race, Elmer and Albert all turned to splash him, with Davey and Les joining in after a moment. By the end of this, everyone was soaked and starting to shiver, even through the cold grins on their faces. Gulls wheeled overhead, joining the happy shouts and cries of the newsies below. Race put his hands on the deck, lifting himself up onto the wooden planks to get his shirt. He looked left and right, and then glanced to Crutchie, who was watching the sky innocently.

"Okay," Race sighed. "Where'd you put our clothes?"

"Me?" Crutchie gave him a wide-eyed, naive glance, though it was hard to hide his sneaking smile. "Your clothes?"

"Yeah, you," Race gave him a tap on his shoulder. "So. Where are they?"

Crutchie shrugged, but shook his head with a smile. He pointed down the walk to a little heap of clothing down the way. Race sighed, and gave him another tap before sprinting down. Next to come was Albert, then Elmer, then Davey and Les. Davey just laughed, and said, "You're dedicated." Then they were all gone, going to put their shirts back on.

Crutchie bit back a laugh, standing up and grabbing his crutch. He slid it under his arm, going to join his fellow newsies. He had barely taken one step forward when a pockmarked face framed by messy greasy hair shoved itself in his own. Crutchie's foot dragged slightly as he took a hesitant step back, smile disappearing from his face all at once.

"Goin' somewhere, crip?" Mace asked him in a leering growl, jabbing a fat finger at Crutchie's chest. He glanced down at it, and then back up into Mace's face hesitantly. "You-you want somethin', Mace?"

"Yeah," Mace spat the word out. "I got a booty-"

"A what?"

"To break you, Jack Kelly. So I'm gonna do it."